How Technology is Changing Blindness

Check out these six TED talks about how technology is changing blindness:


First, a quick historical perspective from Ron McCallum and how he discovered the joy of reading:



Then Denis Hong tells us about making a car for the blind:



Sumit Dagar discusses Smartphones for the visually impaired and how the normal glass fronted phone just doesn't work for someone who must depend on their sense of touch:



Bob Lee shares how he teaches photography to the blind:



Neuroscientist Sheila Nirenberg is working on a prosthetic eye technology not just to improve the everyday lives of those without sight — but to give them the ability to see, in the case that they should they want it:



And finally, in this incredible video — an ad rather than a TED Talk — a young man walks to school, a young woman strolls outdoors, and an old man navigates stairs. All three are blind. Rather than a cane or seeing eye dog, they are being guided by haptic feedback shoes. These shoes, called “La Chal” and created by TED Fellow Anthony Vipin Das, use GPS technology and vibrations to let their wearers know when to turn, lift their feet and stop to avoid a hazard.